Most Teens Associate School With Boredom, Fatigue

by Linda Lyons, Education and Youth Editor

"How was school?" is a question parents typically ask their
teenagers daily, even though the answer is often the same --
"fine," "OK," or the non-verbal shoulder shrug. And there the
conversation ends.

Perhaps it is important to dig a little deeper. Gallup recently
asked U.S. teenagers* (aged 13 to 17) to select three words from a
list of adjectives that describe how they usually feel in school,
and found that "bored" is the word chosen most often, selected by
fully half of teens. That was followed by another negative word,
"tired," chosen by 42%. Only as many as 31% selected any one of the
positive feelings provided -- such as happy and challenged.
Educators and parents would undoubtedly prefer that those were the
first words that popped into teens' minds when asked about their
day at school.

The data suggest that boredom may be a sign of the times for
teenagers. Kids spend so much time with colorful, fast-paced TV
shows and other stimulating media that it has become difficult for
teachers -- who still often have little more than a chalkboard to
work with -- to keep them focused.

But it's not impossible. "I have to change direction every 10 or
15 minutes to hold their attention," says Telma Gonzalez, a high
school Spanish teacher in New York. "[But] even though kids say
they are bored in school, they don't really act that way in my
class. It may just be, too, that the inflexible routine of daily
classes seems boring to kids."

Positives and Negatives

Teens' responses to this question were generally consistent
across demographic categories, with a few notable exceptions. Older
teens (aged 16 and 17) are more likely than younger teens to
express the negative feelings of boredom, tiredness, pressure, and
confusion at school. Younger teens (aged 13 to 15) are more likely
than older teens to report feeling happy, challenged, supported,
and appreciated.

The poll also finds that girls are more likely to say they feel
happy in school than boys are -- 37% to 25%, respectively.
Thirty-six percent of boys say they feel challenged, compared with
26% of girls. Nineteen percent of girls report feeling lonely,
versus just 7% of boys. The genders are equally likely to report
being bored at school.

Academic Standing

Perhaps not surprisingly, teens' self-described academic
standing is related to their likelihood to express positive or
negative feelings about school. Teens who describe themselves as
"near the top" or "above average" in their class are slightly less
likely to say they feel bored in school than are those who define
themselves as average or below average -- 46% compared with 54%.
Teens who say they are above average academically are also
significantly more likely than their lower-performing counterparts
to report feeling challenged, interested, excited, and appreciated
at school.

Alcohol Consumption

Teens who are involved in risk behaviors such
as drinking alcohol are more likely than teens who say they
don't drink to report negative feelings in school. Only 19% of teen
drinkers report feeling happy in school, while 36% of non-drinkers
do. Conversely, a majority of teens who use alcohol (63%) say they
are bored in school, versus 45% of those who don't drink.

Bottom Line

Educators pay attention to their students' feelings and work to
address them, particularly the negative emotions. "I'm not so
concerned about teens saying they are tired in school -- they
really are tired," says Gonzalez. "Kids lead such busy
lives."

As for boredom in school, Saul Cooperman, retired teacher,
principal, and New Jersey Commissioner of Education, surmises that,
"Teens could certainly be responding to society saying school is
something they have to endure." But Cooperman suspects
that many students simply may not appreciate the opportunities they
are given at school. "We have an affluent society," says Cooperman,
"much like a beautiful buffet table that has everything on it --
but even that gets boring after a while."

*The Gallup Youth Survey is conducted via an Internet
methodology provided by Knowledge Networks, using an online
research panel that is designed to be representative of the entire
U.S. population. The current questionnaire was completed by 785
respondents, aged 13 to 17, between Jan. 22 and March 9, 2004. For
results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence
that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage
points.

Faced with intense competition to get into good colleges, many high school students look for any advantage beyond good grades in traditional classes. And they're well aware that university admissions departments look favorably on students who take honors and advanced placement (AP) courses -- some of which they can even receive college credit for completing. How many teens are taking advantage of these courses?